Delegate at the teachers' conference

Teachers' Union Warns Of Schools Cash Crisis

David Hart, General-Secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, has told its annual conference in Scarborough that the Chancellor's public sector pay freeze could do "irreparable damage" to education standards.

Before the general election, the Chancellor pledged that a Labour government would stick to Tory spending plans for two years.

"That may have been a good electoral tactic. But it is not such a good idea when budget forecasts imply a 7% cut over two years," Mr Hart said. "These cuts will send shivers down the spines of parents, governors and teachers," he added.

So far, Mr Hart said, the new government had been "strong on initiatives, but weaker on investment". He claimed school funding is in crisis after a spending squeeze under the previous government which had cut primary funding by £35 per pupil over the last three years, and by £78 in secondary schools.

The scale of the crisis was illustrated by comparison with other countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Hart: "Labour must think big"

Britain fell £4 billion behind the OECD average, Mr Hart said. "This is the level of additional resources which should underpin Labour's manifesto pledge," he added. "For that sort of money, the Government could transform the education system."

The challenge for Labour after years of neglect was daunting, commented Mr Hart, but that should not produce an "over-cautious reaction".

"Labour must think big," he continued, urging a "radical reform" of funding to transfer millions of pounds from higher education to primary schools.

Mr Hart warned that no amount of "rhetoric" would produce the desired result unless the fundamental issues were addressed that would entice good teachers to the profession, and persuade them to remain in it. And the most fundamental issue was pay and funding.

"Gordon Brown may argue that his [public sector pay] policy is the only realism," Mr Hart said. "I would only say that we suffered for far too long under the last government from a lack of realism. That led to excessive teacher loss, inadequate teacher recruitment, underfunded pay increases and cash-starved school budgets," he said.

Mr Hart told delegates, "Some say that things won't be much different under Labour. You and I know they have to be different. Otherwise recruitment and retention of teachers - fundamental to raising standards - will grow worse."